Columbus, Butler County and Schuyler chambers hold Ag Partners Tour
Agriculture is the very backbone of Nebraska's economy and to understand the state's economy, not to mention culture, one has to understand agriculture, according to Columbus Area Chamber of Commerce President Dawson Brunswick.
That understanding is what the chamber's annual Ag Partners Tour seeks to foster among local residents and, in recent years, members of the Schuyler and Butler County chambers of commerce.
"For a lot of these members, you know, we've got 51 people from Columbus at register for this," Brunswick said. "Looking at our breakdown, you know, probably a third are an ag lending, insurance, some sort of agribusiness. For a lot of people, we all hear that agriculture runs our economy. But what does that mean? What does that look like?"
From trailers to combine repair, soybean processing and even food sales, a group of 60 curious individuals departed from Reg's 7-Mile Steakhouse in Columbus on Wednesday, Sept. 18 to see just how ag affects the local economy; specifically, David City's economy.
The tour began at grain trailer manufacturer Timpte before moving down the road to AKRS Equipment Solutions, a farm equipment and parts dealer and repair center.
Sales are often quick in the equipment business, AKRS store manager Joe Autry said. And with the harvest coming up, their repair bays have been busy, too.
"In the sales world you look at a combine one minute, if it isn't sold here, somebody could sell it at one of six other locations and then mark it sold and it's on the truck," Autry said. "Once you have a purchase order, sign it, it locks that in place. If there's not one, the guy wants to think about it and makes that decision, it could sell at any point."
Between AKRS and the final stop on the tour, the group did a drive-by viewing of the new AGP soybean processing and degumming plant being constructed at the edge of David City.
With construction ongoing, the company did not allow an actual tour of the site, but Tyrell Engstrom, agribusiness loan officer at Columbus Bank and Trust, provided some information for those on the Lakeview Community Schools bus used for the tour.
"Roughly, we think they'll take about 300 semi (truck) loads of beans a day," Engstrom said. "We don't have a timeline exactly when they'll be up and running, but sometime in the spring, they'll probably get an overpass on the north end. They have rail lines that wrap all the way around."
The last tour stop — Buresh Meats — is closer to the end of the agriculture process and, despite its name, they sell much more than just meat.
Owner Scott Buresh said that while, yes, he deals with a lot of meat products, they carry many different kinds of items — appetizers, candy, baked goods, milk, eggs and more.
"I've had so many people that, when they finally do come in after driving by several times, they don't know what they can buy here, if this is just an order place only, they don't know what to expect," Buresh said.
One anecdote he found particularly amusing was about Pure Nebraska anchor Jon Vanderford. Vanderford stopped by to take pictures of a wooden train, but that quickly evolved into a whole episode about Buresh Meats itself.
"When he walked in to get pictures of the train, he also goes, 'I did not realize this is going to be like this. Can I do a story on you?' Buresh recalled. "(I said) 'well, sure, you set it up.' He did it right then and there."
Curiosity draws many to the store, Buresh said, but what sets his business apart economically is his prices. Inspired by Walmart founder Sam Walton's business practices, Buresh buys low and sells low in large quantities.
"So many people, that when they finally get in here, they're going, 'we had no idea it was like this,'" Buresh said. "Then when they go around and they start checking out our prices they're going, 'oh, you can't beat these prices,' (to) which I say, 'I know, we pride ourselves on that.'"
Buresh said his business takes a different approach to marketing than a lot of companies. He personally works from his flip phone, doing all his business with calls or in-person meetings. He buys directly from meatpacking facilities, which is a different approach than most stores.
When Buresh Meats first started, they tried to set up deals with meatpacking facilities, but the bigger meatpackers didn't know how to handle a smaller business and they said no, Buresh said. With some persistence, however, they started working with each other, which is part of how his prices are so low.
"I'll keep our prices fair for people, keep them as low as we possibly can to keep ourselves afloat and you just keep on sending people," Buresh said.
Among the 60 ag tourists was State Sen. Mike Moser, who frequently participates in the tour, he said.
Moser said that it's a good opportunity to educate his colleagues in the Unicameral about local ag producers.
"They ask me to help get some of the senators to come and really look at all different ag things we have in our area," Moser said. "We've been to Creston, Clarkson and Columbus, lots of places, and it's always interesting to see how people are selling food and making food."
After the tour, Brunswick said that all the sights were pretty impressive and, in some cases, he literally saw where the things his family buys regularly come from, which of course is one of the main purposes of the tour.
"To see Timpte, where they're making grain trailers, over to AKRS, where they've chosen David City to build their flagship training location and their next-gen maintenance facility, we've seen the AGP facility being built, that's going to process beans, and then Buresh," Brunswick said. "My wife and I, we're in Buresh in Columbus at least once a month if not more. Just to see and understand how people got started, how they're doing the things they're doing and the impact it has (stuck out to me)."
